Winning blow: rook to f7 (g7·7)
c9-17405naming tag (square·N)Opens in the app if installed, otherwise downloads the APK.
The tactical motive
Chess960 twist: use the unusual starting setup of the pieces.
Winning tactic: there is a move that gains a decisive advantage — find it.
Difficulty 1430 ShuffleRating — club-player level.
White to move — find the best continuation
How to recognize this tactic
In Chess960 the pieces start on unfamiliar squares, so tactics appear earlier and from unusual angles. Do not trust classical patterns — read the actual lines of the bishops, the rooks and the queen from where they really stand in this position.
This position hides a concrete tactic that wins material or mates. Start with the most forcing candidate moves — checks, captures and threats — and calculate each to a clear end before choosing; the winning line is usually the one the opponent cannot meet.
General method: before you move, list the forcing candidates — every check, every capture, every direct threat — and calculate those first. The solution to a tactic is almost always among them.
Position on the board
White: king g1, rook f1 g7, bishop b1 d4, knight c1 e1, pawn a2 f2 g2 b3 c4 e4 h4.
Black: king h8, queen c7, rook f8, bishop a8 b8, knight d6 c8, pawn h5 b6 e6 h6 a7 d7 f7.
14 white and 14 black pieces are on the board; the puzzle position arises after move 12.
The position in numbers
Black are ahead by 4 points of material (29 against 33; pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9) — the tactic has to convert or outweigh that.
The white king stands on g1, the black king on h8.
It is White to move on move 12, with 33 legal replies to weigh — only the line that keeps the advantage solves the puzzle.
White keeps 7 pawns, Black 7. No file is fully open, so the heavy pieces have to be pried in. Half-open for White: d.
The White king has 2 empty squares to step to right now — the fewer they are, the closer a mating net.
Solution & explanation
Main line
12. Rxf7+ Kg8 13. Rg7+ Kh8 14. Rxd7+ Kg8 15. Rxc7
Why it works
- Great move! rook to f7 keeps the pressure (+3.5).
- Well found: rook to g7 (+3.6).
- Precise: rook to d7 is the top choice (+3.9).
- Great move! rook to c7 keeps the pressure (+3.8).
- You win a piece — the queen.
- If instead Kg8, then Rg7+ and you stay on top.
Move by move
- 12. Rxf7+ — rook to f7 (capture) with check
- Kg8 — king to g8
- 13. Rg7+ — rook to g7 with check
- Kh8 — king to h8
- 14. Rxd7+ — rook to d7 (capture) with check
- Kg8 — king to g8
- 15. Rxc7 — rook to c7 (capture)
Types in this puzzle
Relative pin
A piece shields a more valuable one behind it — moving it loses material.
In a relative pin the piece shields not its king but something valuable behind it, usually the queen. Moving is legal but costly, because the piece behind falls. Look for three units on one line: your long-range piece, a cheaper enemy piece, and an expensive one hiding behind. Beware the classic trap — a relatively pinned piece can still move with check or a bigger threat, so verify before you cash in.
Only move
Everything else loses — find the only move that holds.
An only move is a position where everything loses except one single continuation. You cannot play "by hand" here: run through fundamentally different defenses — run away, block, trade, counterattack — and discard the ones that fail. The hallmark of these puzzles is that the obvious moves lose quickly while the solution often looks strange. First understand exactly what the threat is — then the one saving move reveals itself.
Development punish
Half the army still asleep — the attack breaks through.
Punishing lazy development: half of your opponent's army is asleep on its starting squares, which means you outnumber him where the fight is. Count not the pieces on the board but the pieces in play — if five or more of his pieces have never moved, look for a forcing attack. The sign is a development lead plus open lines toward his king. Strike immediately: give him two quiet moves and the advantage evaporates.
About this position
These pieces come from starting position #16.
SP-16 · RampartGuard — Both knights begin on inner files while the king sits on the wing (b/g); mirror twins stay together in this family.
The king starts on g1, the rooks on f1 and h1, the queen on d1.
The king already stands on its castled square, so castling short moves only the rook, from h1 to f1.
A bishop starts in the corner on a1: it has a single diagonal, which the b-pawn unlocks, running out to h8.
Every pawn on the second rank is defended from the very first move.
The setup belongs to the RampartGuard family; read right to left it becomes position 943.
The engine's main line opens with h4.
Morozov Balance Index: 37 of 100 — class C — noticeable edge. Engine evaluation of the starting position: +30 centipawns for White (depth 45, 400 000 000 nodes).
Explore position #16Provenance
Mined from the project's engine self-play games.
Pack 010 · SP-16
Similar puzzles
In your browser or in the Android app. Nothing to install · Free, no ads